The auto industry has, once again, the European Commission. While the cartel to run the exhaust under investigation for collusion in the case of diesel, takes Brussels several corporations because of a scandal in order to spare his sights – and has also found violations because of the potential for Antitrust.
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Affected are the five manufacturers: Renault, PSA, Nissan, Jaguar, Land Rover and Chrysler. You should achieved with the help of the consulting firm Accenture, price increases of up to 25 percent, and a total achieved profit of 2.6 billion Euro in ten years ‘ time, as the MIRROR had reported as part of the research network European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) with its media partners last summer. The manufacturer and Accenture deny the accusations.
According to new information, the EU Commission launched the investigation in December 2018. She gave no comment.
The competition authorities based on the revelations of the research project Carleaks, which operates the EIC since 2018. The EIC-Partner documents the online newspaper “mediapart had evaluated” from a French court process, and revealed how Accenture helped with a Software that increases the car manufacturers price. The company shall have sold to your customers spare parts at inflated prices.
price increase of up to 300 percent
Accenture is said to have coordinated price increases with its Software called Partneo. The consulting firm between 2008 and 2013, have created the car manufacturers of the programs.
With Accenture’s Software, according to documents to price increases of 20 to 300 percent for each of the components. Therefore, an algorithm filters out what car owners are a maximum for spare parts willing to pay. Otherwise, the prices for spare parts are calculated with a multiplier on the cost of production.
The 2018 known data about the Accenture program showed already, how much more the car manufacturer’s earned thanks to the Software: the rear-view mirror of the Renault Clio III has been sold before the use of Partneo for 79 euros, even though its production costs only ten euros – the Software doubled the price to 165 euros. The hubcap of the Dacia Logan, which will cost the manufacturer three euros, sold it for 21 euros. Partneo increased this price by 262 percent, to 76 euros.
documents show the interest of Ford and VW
New documents show that Accenture has divided around nine years ago, apparently even sensitive information with the manufacturer Ford. In order to convince Ford, Accenture, have the profits of three other manufacturers, presented that they had achieved with the Software consultants and have revealed that one of them is the Ford-rival Renault. This could have been a similar delicate exchange of concrete information about competitors, as it had been given him possibly in the case of meetings between Accenture and PSA.
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Ford has not purchased the Software in the end, what the company has confirmed, without mentioning further Details. In a written testimony of a witness for the court, gave to Protocol, that the US car manufacturers have introduced in Europe to Accenture’s program-based method to price increase.
The Accenture consultants are expected to have attempted in 2011 to organize a Meeting with Volkswagen and PSA as well as Renault. The Manager should discuss about the spare part prices. A high-ranking former VW-Manager should be interested in. It is unclear whether the Meeting took place in the end.
The interest in VW can also be used elsewhere, which shows that, According to the documents, the Wolfsburg-based car group between September and December 2011, funded a pilot test with Partneo for 1900 own spare parts in Germany and the UK. At the end of VW opted for other methods. In addition, Volkswagen took the position.
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